As home to Harvard, MIT and Emerson, Boston may be known for its elite universities. But besides its famed educational establishments, the capital of Massachusetts offers what seems like a near-perfect blend of America.
It's also famed for its premium medical services, and boasts some of the best hospitals in the US, according to digital healthcare company Medbelle. It has the country’s oldest baseball stadium, Fenway Park, and was the first city in the country to introduce a subway system. Its public library displays the personal book collection of founding father and second president John Adams. It hosts one of the world's most famous marathons. It claims the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the country and is also responsible for giving the world Dunkin' Donuts.
In many ways, the city draws parallels with New York City. It has a bustling Broadway theatre district, a thriving financial hub of skyscrapers and a large public park. Indeed, Boston seems to have many of the Big Apple's best elements, distilled into a smaller, less manic and easier-to-navigate space.
This is a place where history runs deep. More than any other city, Boston played a critical role in the shaping of the United States. It was a focal point of the earliest American revolts. Almost everyone knows the story of the Boston Tea Party – when chests of tea were dumped into the harbour to protest continuously rising taxes from the British. The city's historical significance is woven into modern-day Boston via the Freedom Trail – a 4km redbrick walk that takes in many of the country’s most important sites. It is a good starting place for my discovery of Beantown.
Cutting through the city's pretty Public Garden, located just a block from the Hilton Boston Park Plaza where I’m staying, I join a buzz of Bostonians pushing prams, jogging and walking dogs. The pond-filled park dates back to the 1800s and leads me to another. Boston Common is the oldest park in the US, dating to 1634, and has witnessed nearly 400 years of American history, including a civil rights rally by Martin Luther King Jr and a public Mass by Pope John Paul II.
Fittingly for my visit as a travel writer, The Common, as it is known, also played its part in spurring the travel industry by hosting 20th-century aviator Charles Lindbergh when he promoted commercial aviation to the masses. Walking across the park towards the start of the Freedom Trail, I stop to admire The Embrace, a recently unveiled sculpture of two intertwined arms that depicts the love story of King Jr and his wife Coretta Scott King. The couple met in the city in 1952.
Following the redbrick road
Following the red bricks laid into the city's pavements, I set off on the trail that takes in sights including the golden-tinged Massachusetts State House; the Boston Massacre site, where a brawl began between American colonists and a lone British soldier; and Faneuil Hall, a marketplace and meeting hall that has been a stage for debate for more than 270 years. At Granary Burying Ground, which dates to 1660, I wander past ancient gravestones from the American Revolutionary War era: patriots including Paul Revere and the three signatories of The Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine.
Some sites on the Freedom Trail cross over with stops on the more recently established Black Heritage Trail, a 1.6km self-guided tour of Beacon Hill that tells the story of its black community and how, despite oppression, it was instrumental in changing the course of American history in the 18th and 19th centuries. It's a worthy diversion, trawling through dark moments of history and areas that are now some of Boston's prettiest neighbourhoods.
Having built up an appetite, I am excited to reach the next stop – the Union Oyster House. The oldest known continuously operating restaurant in the US first welcomed diners in 1826 and is set in a series of pre-revolution buildings. It serves classic New England food such as scrod, broiled sea scallops, lobster and oysters. Stepping through its doors feels like stepping into history. The restaurant was a favourite of former US president John F Kennedy, who has a booth named after him.
Joseph Milano, owner of the Union Oyster House for more than 50 years, explains: “He would come in on Sundays and he enjoyed the quiet. He would spread out his newspapers and his favourite dish was lobster stew … but it was the solitude that was important to a busy person like him. This would have been when he was Treasurer of Massachusetts, just before he ran for president.
“We dedicated the booth to him in 1977 and had the entire Kennedy clan – Caroline, Ted, everyone – here. It was a wonderful time. The Kennedy family that are still around come in from time to time.”
Sitting in the same booth, I enjoy Milano's tales about the establishment’s past. Before becoming a restaurant, it served as a printing press, a fancy dress shop and even the headquarters for Ebenezer Hancock, the first paymaster of the Continental Army. It was also once a hideout for a man who would later become King Louis Philippe of France.
Although Boston is deeply rooted in America’s history, it is not a place that clings solely to its past. Milano speaks about some of the city's more modern heroes, like actors Mark Wahlberg, who he calls “a sweetie”, and Oscar-winner Matt Damon.
The stars fit Boston's modern identity. It is a city of renewal, one flooded every year by a fresh set of students. It’s a place where change happens – something that’s obvious as I head to the Back Bay to visit to Boston Public Library, passing restoration works under way at Copley Square. The arts-orientated space is being transformed into a greener, more accessible part of the city with new fountains and public artworks in front of the soaring 19th-century Episcopal Trinity Church.
A novel, albeit touristy, way to appreciate this old and new parallel is by clambering aboard the city’s famous Duck Tours. The colourful fleet of replica Second World War amphibious vehicles are named by local schoolchildren, and I clamber aboard a bright turquoise vessel called Daisy. It is piloted by a colourful tour guide who entertains our group with more tales of past and present. Stories include how Boston went from having the dirtiest river in the country to one of the cleanest and the demolition of the West End neighbourhood, displacing hundreds of immigrant families, to make way for brutalist government buildings. It is a fascinating spin through history.
Half an hour into the ride, the duck boats head into Boston Harbour and chugs along as we listen to more stories. We cruise by TD Garden, home to two of the city's major sporting teams – the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. The third major team are the Boston Red Sox, who play at the country’s oldest baseball stadium where I later get the chance to climb on top of the famous 11-metre high Green Monster leftfield wall.
A city of wonder
One of Boston's newest attractions is the WNDR Museum, an interactive and immersive experience that aims to make visitors part of the art. Touching the exhibits is encouraged, so I happily stomp on reactive light floors, hunt out sound clips in a room filled with hanging wires, add neon stickers to a whitewashed wall and allow a staff member to photograph my eye to embed on a wall filled with digital irises.
“WNDR is pretty cool,” says chief experience officer Brian Haines. “What we do here is hopefully tap into your sense of wonder, something that all of us have as children and sometimes we lose as we grow up. At WNDR we want to reawaken that for you, and let you find it for yourself again.”
Feeling inspired, I leave WNDR and make my way to Contessa, a swanky wrap-around rooftop restaurant inside the Newbury Hotel. Reservations are essential at this nostalgic-dipped eatery which serves delicious Italian-American fare as good as anything found in the North End neighbourhood. It is Boston's Little Italy. The pumpkin carpaccio is a must-try, as is the spicy lobster capellini. Both are served with sunset views over the Public Garden.
From here, there are only a few blocks to Chinatown, visible via its lion-flanked gateway, and Boston’s Washington Street Theatre District, a centre of entertainment for more than two centuries. Seven theatres serve up an ever-changing schedule of Broadway hits, ballets, operas and comedy.
I have a ticket to see Company at the Citizen Opera House, a venue that is another story of renewal. Dating back to 1928, the theatre was originally a movie palace, then an opera house before it fell into disrepair and closed in the 1990s. In 1999, it was granted Boston Landmark status and works were undertaken to renovate the space, which now evokes all the grandeur of Paris’s historic Palais Garnier.
After the show, I notice when walking back to my hotel at about 11pm that the streets are calm, noticeably so for a major urban hub. That's the thing about Boston. Although it is a major city, it manages to retain something of a small-town, close-knit vibe.
Perhaps it stems from the 'Spirit of America' slogan that adorns Massachusetts car license plates. Maybe it is the city's culture of acceptance – such as historically welcoming immigrants in search of a better life. It could simply be the familiarity between people that becomes obvious when wandering neighbourhoods like the North End or Charlestown. People here seem to care deeply about their community and have done so for nearly 400 years.
I reach my hotel at about midnight. The traffic has slowed and the streets are all but empty, with most residents having flocked back to the suburbs. At this hour, the city is largely for the transient visitors – the students and the tourists – to enjoy, but Bostonians are resolutely ready to return bright and early the next morning to the heart of their beloved city.
Getting to Boston from the UAE
Etihad Airways flies direct from Abu Dhabi to Logan International Airport four days a week, with a flight time of 13 hours. From October 27, it will become a daily service.
